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Thread: What is the skill of Shaolin?

  1. #1

    What is the skill of Shaolin?

    Hello,

    My name is John Rojcewicz. I have been very passionate about martial arts, particularly Chinese martial arts, for about eight years now.
    During my exploration of Chinese martial arts, I spent about one and a half years training full time in China. I spent some time with master
    Wu Nanfang of the Wugulun Shaolin method in Dengfeng, and then a very short time at Daqingshan, where I met master Chen Zhonghua of
    the Chen style practical method. Without going into detail regarding my own training experience, I would like to put forth my perspective as to what kung fu is, what
    the skill of Shaolin is, what is the splitting of yin and yang in the body to form taji, what is the practical ability which is the goal of the Chinese martial arts tradition.

    Its really very simple, but easily ignored. The skill is to move the center, just the center, nothing else moves, only the center, every limp only adjusts to be oriented to the center. If you punch, the fist doesn't move, the arm doesn't move, the shoulder doesn't move, only the center moves, every other part is fixed and can only adjust in its orientation to the center. if you pull, its the same. Go to a door and open it without moving your hand or arm. After grasping the door knob, just move your center away from the door and see what happens. Its very simple, but people don't do it very well. They wont move the center. They'll try to move everything else. Watch a boxing match, see the fist thrust out and in so fast, so much movement, watch when the fist makes contact and it suddenly moves very slowly and usually stops, almost immediately after contact and must be retracted. The legs move the center, the arms are fixed to the center, in this way the the legs may power the arms. There is no other way. If the arms move on their own, they cannot be powered by the legs. When you go for a walk, your body moves because you use your leg power to move your center. This is in fact the only possible way to create continuous power with the body, power capable to move your self through space. Running, jumping, even walking on your hands, whenever you move your body over a distance, it is a movement of the middle, the center. If you punch without moving your arm and hand, and only move the center, your punch will be very slow, but it will have a power which is impossible by any other method. I have said a lot, in a way that may not be very clear, but I hope that you will consider what I have said because it expresses a change of emphasize, which has revolutionized the way I practice and my physical ability as a whole.


    Here master Chen Zhonghua demonstrates what I have stated above, but with some differences in way of speaking.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1STOWi3QfI

  2. #2
    I made a mistake and the link I posted doesn't really contain a demonstration.
    I highly recommend watching other videos of Chen Zhonghua to get a better example of the skill in action.

  3. #3
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    What you are talking about is ShenFa

    Look over what you said and replace the word 'centre' with the word '' and I believe you will be a little closer to the skill of Shaolin. (Xin) can be read as centre, it can be read as heart, it can be read as mind, but it is something more mysterious.

    心欲动,如火攻 -- Shaolin Maxim
    Last edited by RenDaHai; 10-09-2014 at 04:25 AM.
    問「武」。曰:「克。」未達。曰:「勝己之私之謂克。」

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by RenDaHai View Post
    What you are talking about is ShenFa

    Look over what you said and replace the word 'centre' with the word '' and I believe you will be a little closer to the skill of Shaolin. (Xin) can be read as centre, it can be read as heart, it can be read as mind, but it is something more mysterious.

    心欲动,如火攻 -- Shaolin Maxim

    Thank you for this advise. That's a very interesting connection to make: the connection between the poetic and practical elements of Chinese martial arts. At Shaolin they speak of XinYiBa, and indeed when the intention and the "center" are united, then you have real power to work with. I recently watched a few minutes of a cross-fit competition as it played on the TV where I work, I noticed the way they moved as they did dead-lifts: no limb moving on its own, the whole action powered by the movement of the center.

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rojcewicz View Post
    Thank you for this advise. That's a very interesting connection to make: the connection between the poetic and practical elements of Chinese martial arts. At Shaolin they speak of XinYiBa, and indeed when the intention and the "center" are united, then you have real power to work with. I recently watched a few minutes of a cross-fit competition as it played on the TV where I work, I noticed the way they moved as they did dead-lifts: no limb moving on its own, the whole action powered by the movement of the center.
    Yes, most western culture is only objective and analytical rather than intuitive and thoughtful (the left brain vs. right brain dominant thing.) People need to think more in the latter way to understand what you guys are talking about.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rojcewicz View Post
    I made a mistake and the link I posted doesn't really contain a demonstration.
    I highly recommend watching other videos of Chen Zhonghua to get a better example of the skill in action.
    I like your teacher's explanations. Is he teaching in Canada?

  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by MarathonTmatt View Post
    I like your teacher's explanations. Is he teaching in Canada?
    Master Chen Zhonghua lives in Canada, I believe in Edmonton. He spends a large portion of the year traveling around the world doing workshops. He also spends some portion of the year, I think typically a few months in the summer, on Daqingshan, the mountain on which he was born in China. On Daqingshan he is well along in developing a resort location, mainly for Chinese tourists to the area. Full-time taji training is also available on the mountain for certain months of the year. While I continue to look to master Chen's videos for information and inspiration, I am not a practitioner of his particular method.

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